From Colombia to Australia: A Global South Fellowship Story

By Erika McGown. 

What happens when your job doesn’t just exhaust your time – but your body, your health, even your future? 

That’s the urgent question driving the research of Associate Professor Oscar Javier Maldonado Castañeda, a sociologist from Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia, whose work focuses on the human cost of labour. 

During his time as a Global South Fellow at the Australian National University (ANU), Oscar has been developing his project, Economies of Life, which explores how technological change, the social dimensions of work and politics, global environmental change, embodiment and gender, and inequalities shape the conditions of work, particularly for migrant and informal workers. His research looks at the short-term impacts on workers’ nutrition and health, the long-term toll of aging in precarious jobs, and the ever-present risks of accidents and death. It’s a stark lens on a future of work already unfolding.

“My main focus while here has been building a conversation between different research frameworks on digital platforms, social reproduction, and migration – and bringing them together to better understand the lifecycles of workers in platform economies,” Oscar said.

While at ANU, Oscar has collaborated with sociologists such as Professor Adrian Mackenzie, whose work on digital infrastructures has long influenced him. Their shared teaching backgrounds in quantitative methods – Oscar in Colombia and Mackenzie in Canberra – have created a unique space for reciprocal learning and future collaboration.

A major feature of Oscar’s fellowship has been the Economies of Life Reading Group, which brought together scholars from Australia’s National University, the National University of Singapore, and Universidad del Rosario. The group examined the intersection of digital, financial, and labour infrastructures, aiming to deepen conversations between platform studies and global labour research.

“These two months have been a time for reconnecting – reflection, deep conversations, and collaboration,” Oscar said.

Hosted by the ANU School of Sociology, the Global South Fellowship supports emerging scholars from the Global South, with the goals of fostering academic diversity, encouraging ongoing collaboration, and mentoring future leaders in research. Oscar’s experience reflects the fellowship’s core mission, that is, “to create space for intellectual exchange that transcends borders – and disciplines” says Associate Dean (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility - IDEA), Associate Professor Bernard Baffour.

Though his visit ends at the end of the month, Oscar plans to continue collaborating remotely and hopes the networks formed through the fellowship will help deepen the connections between each other’s networks. 

“Canberra has been such a thoughtful, reflective place to work. The academic community here is deeply engaged but also humble, open, and curious. That’s something rare – and something I’ll take with me when I go,” he said.

For more about the program visit: https://cass.anu.edu.au/research/cass-2024-global-south-visiting-fellowship-program